MEET THE JUDGES

Judge Sharon V. Burrell was sworn in as a judge on the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Maryland on October 21, 2008, becoming the first African American female judge to be appointed to the bench in Montgomery County. She has worked in all of the divisions of the court and is currently Chief Judge of the Sixth Judicial Circuit. She has taught other judges at the Maryland Judicial College on a variety of courses ranging from civil evidence to probation violations, coordinated the New Law Clerk Orientation program, and often serves as a speaker on programs for college and law school students. Judge Burrell is currently a member of her Court’s Sentence Review Panel and chairs the Committee on Equal Justice for the Maryland judiciary.

A native of Washington, DC, Judge Burrell attended DC Public Schools. She received a B.A. in English from Barnard College of Columbia University in 1979, and a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1982. While in law school, she served on the board of directors of the National Black Law Students Association (1981-1982) and was an editor on the Harvard Women’s Law Journal. She is the author of Legal Malpractice of the Tax Attorney, 34 The Tax Executive 259 (1982). After graduating from law school, Judge Burrell clerked for Judge Harry A. Cole on the Court of Appeals of Maryland (renamed the Supreme Court of Maryland). Judge Cole was the first Black judge to serve on Maryland’s highest court.

After her clerkship, Judge Burrell worked for a law firm in Baltimore, where she practiced corporate and tax law. For twenty-one years Judge Burrell worked for the County Attorney’s Office in Montgomery County, representing the County, agencies and employees in federal and state trial and appellate courts with an emphasis in the areas of civil rights, employment discrimination and municipal liability. She also served as legal advisor to County labor negotiators.

Judge Burrell is a member of various national and local bar and community organizations, which include the National Bar Association, the J. Franklyn Bourne Bar Association, where she was president in 2005-2006, the Maryland State Bar Association, the Montgomery County Bar Association, and the National Association of Women Judges, where she served as vice president of the Maryland chapter, the National Council of Negro Women, and the NAACP. Judge Burrell is currently an elected member of the Executive Board of the Judicial Council of the National Bar Association and is Vice-Chair of the Harry A. Cole Judicial Council.

As a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Judge Burrell served as president of Theta Omega Omega Chapter in Silver Spring, Maryland (2017-2020). She was honored by Alpha Kappa Alpha’s North Atlantic Region with 2 nd Place President of the Year, Large Chapter for 2019, and 1 st Place President of the Year, Large Chapter for 2020. She currently serves as the Chapter’s Parliamentarian.

Judge Burrell is the recipient of many commendations and awards including the Outstanding Member Service Award from the Judicial Council of the National Bar Association (2021), the National Bar Association’s Heman M. Sweatt Award (2014), the J. Franklyn Bourne Bar Association’s Legal Excellence Award (2010); Women Who Make a Difference Award presented by Gap Buster, Inc. & Lincoln Park Historical Society (2012), and is a three-time recipient of Maryland’s Top 100 Women Award, where she was inducted into the Circle of Excellence in 2021. In 2012 Judge Burrell was added to the Montgomery County Women’s History Archives by the Montgomery County Commission for Women.